English Original
rewinding
a picture scroll of memory –
could I relive
those happy days
with my dog
White Flowers in the Sky, 2005
Aya Yuhki
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
倒帶
一段記憶的影像捲軸 —
我能否重溫
那些快樂的日子
陪伴我的狗
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
倒带
一段记忆的影像卷轴 —
我能否重温
那些快乐的日子
陪伴我的狗
Bio Sketch
Aya Yuhki was born and now lives in Tokyo. She started writing tanka more than thirty years ago and has expanded her interests to include free verse poetry, essay writing, and literary criticism. Aya Yuhki is Editor-in-Chief of The Tanka Journal published by the Japan Poets’ Society. Her works are featured on the homepage of the Japan Pen Club’s Electronic Library.
This tanka has a clear emotional arc: the act of "rewinding" in L1 leads into memory in L2, which then turns into a wistful question in Ls 3-5 about revisiting time spent with a beloved dog. And L5 carries the emotional weight effectively.
ReplyDeleteAnd it might be interesting to do a thematic reading of my tanka below:
Deletemy neighbor’s dog
hit by a red sports car ...
after our walk
she tells me, "I see
his shape in the clouds"
Bright Stars, VI, 2014